Facilitating and Supporting the Political Process

Peace operations often face high expectations in the host country. It is essential for the Mission to engage with national partners to ensure it meets people’s needs. This also helps sustain consent and national and local ownership. The host government is the principal partner in this endeavour.

Interactions between the mission and host government should aim to sustain the peace process, restore government control and manage potential relapses into violence. National military and police leaders play key roles in supporting national political processes. The mission’s Force Commander and Police Commissioner will thus need to engage with these leaders. This will help reinforce UN messaging and approaches to the political process.

At the same time, direct community engagement is necessary. This improves the Mission’s understandings of local realities. It also enables the mission to design better political and protection strategies.

The mission and UNCT should also act as a bridge between the local population and the host government. This facilitates a more inclusive and sustainable political process.

The UN Police component engages with communities, and with the national police. In doing so, it strives to support the creation of safe and secure communities. This, in turn, enables an environment in which political processes are more likely to succeed.

The HoM should maintain a channel of communication with high-level government officials. Personnel, including the UNCT, should transfer skills and knowledge to national counterparts.

Employing Community Liaison Assistants can improve the military and police components’ community. The Civil Affairs team also plays a key role in delivering field data to senior leaders. This calls for strong coordination on the part of the MLT to ensure unity of vision and message.

To perform its political functions, the mission will need a strong political and civil affairs team. Its job is to keep abreast of political developments in the host country. It must also identify potential tensions and use the mission’s good offices to engage with national counterparts. These will include government officials, community and/or traditional leaders and civil society.

It may also be possible to tap funding for quick-impact projects. This will help to build confidence in the mission, its mandate and the peace process.

DPO, DPPA and other entities in the UN can also provide substantive and political support.

A peace operation can only succeed if the conflict parties commit to resolving the conflict through a political process. A mission deployed in the absence of such a commitment runs the risk of becoming paralyzed. Or, worse still, it may find itself drawn into the conflict.

A ceasefire or peace agreement is an indicator of whether the parties are ready for dialogue. But sometimes parties only sign such agreements because of international pressure. Negotiating a political settlement is usually a complex and delicate process. What is in the settlement is likely to determine which challenges arise in the implementation phase. Immediate windows of opportunity to address transitional justice may close later.

There may be a need for initial discussions on transitional-justice issues. The justice and human rights sections should involve the DSRSG in these discussions. Other senior leaders may also become involved.

Women and youth’s participation in a peace process must be meaningful. This reflects their status as victims of conflict and as drivers of recovery.

The MLT should maintain dialogue with women’s and youth groups. It should also meet with local communities and civil society. This helps foster transparent dialogue on gender-related issues within the peace process.

The MLT should also engage with national authorities on these issues. It should advocate for women’s participation in political and electoral processes, too.

For peace to be sustainable, women must feel secure. Their human rights must be upheld and protected.

The MLT has an obligation to lead by example. It should champion policies and strategies that incorporate gender and youth perspectives. This applies within the mission and in dealings with national and local authorities.

Contemporary conflicts are often marked by a fluid constellation of actors. In some cases, spoilers may emerge to obstruct or derail the peace process.

Spoilers may be sceptics of a peace agreement. But they may also include terrorist groups using violence to undermine its implementation. Many organizations prohibit engagement with non-state armed groups (NSAGs) that use violence.

UNHQ has recently developed guidance that allows for engagement with non-state armed groups. This enables peace operations to support political processes and carry out protection mandates.

Members of the MLT involved in negotiating settlements should consider the following:

Within the mission, the HoM handles the political aspects of the peace process. The MLT, UNHQ and facilitators/guarantors of the peace agreement will also play key roles.

Senior military and police commanders should work under the SRSG’s direction. Close coordination between the political, military and police components is crucial. This is especially vital when establishing and applying dispute-resolution mechanisms.

DPPA’s Mediation Support Unit can enhance the mission’s capacity to conduct and support negotiations.

Peace accords lay out long-term roadmaps for sustainable peace and achieving state resilience. But they often leave details related to the machinery of government vague.

In a post-conflict transition environment, state authority must be strengthened to re-institute the social contract between the government and the population.

Citizens invest their trust in the state by engaging in elections and accepting the government. This trust should be met with legitimate institutions. They must be able to assume responsibilities, maintain order and ensure public safety. State institutions need to function throughout the longer-term development phase. This helps prevent a situation in which poor governance erodes public trust.

Extension of state authority is a core function of UN peacekeeping. Security is an essential precursor to a sustainable peace. Large, multidimensional missions therefore often project force to deter direct attacks from spoilers, and expand and secure government authority in contested territories.

But state authority includes a broader notion than strengthened security. Supporting the extension of state authority depends on understanding the socio-political context. The mission’s country analysis should also flag responses to structural causes of corruption. A range of other mission activities contribute to extending and consolidating state authority. These include support for rule of law, SSR, and human rights promotion.

The mission should support other actors helping national authorities extend their authority. Examples include agencies such as UNDP and actors such as the World Bank. The mission’s Rule of Law and Human Rights sections will play key roles here.

The mission can tap into programmatic funding such as quick-impact projects, trust funds and the Peacebuilding Fund to support local or regional state capacities and deliver peace dividends. However, these sources of funding are not sustainable. The MLT can play an outsize role in mobilizing long-term support and partnerships with UNDP, the World Bank and/or bilateral donors.

Coordination functions may vary depending on sectoral expertise. The mission will add value through its support for the political process. The same applies to its network of political and civil affairs staff in the country.

Sustainable peace depends on leaders and the population desiring reconciliation more than conflict. Reconciliation, however, is a long-term process.

National reconciliation is a key priority in a post-conflict setting. It is critical to attaining a lasting peace and political stability. The political process must create opportunities and space for this to take place.

The work of the mission supports this process. In the immediate term the mission can provide crucial political leadership. This can serve to inspire the parties to a recently ended conflict.

Domestic actors need to re-assert control of political institutions. This is important when conflict gives way to development. But unless accompanied by a long process of reconciliation, it can lead to challenges.

The mission’s role is to help strengthen institutions, not particular groups or parties. It must handle changes in its relationship with the host government with sensitivity.

The HoM needs to be mindful of what constitutes a sustainable pace for the local population. The HoM also coordinates the international community’s efforts towards national reconciliation. This means engaging with the UN system, particularly UNDP and OHCHR. The HoM should be aware of potential programmatic tensions in its engagements.

International stakeholders can also support the reconciliation process. Regional actors, financial institutions, the UNCT and Member States can all play roles. The MLT can bring together these actors and generate donor interest and engagement.

The MLT could also invite donors to support a specific reconciliation fund. Under such a scheme, the HoM would be accountable to those donors for allocating funds.

Transitional political arrangements are common in many post-conflict countries. Such arrangements may remain in place until the first elections occur.

National authorities in transitional phases are often appointed rather than elected. Such appointments may occur via a brokered agreement by the parties to the conflict. Thus, they may not be representative of or recognized by the population.

Elections are often integral to political settlements and act as important benchmarks in a peace process.

Peaceful and credible elections and sustainable electoral management bodies are vital to political transitions. They legitimise governments and help the promotion and protection of human rights.

Elections in mission settings often take place in a context with a history of violent conflict. The mission and national actors thus need to mitigate risks. This involves strengthening the conditions for democracy and sustainable peace. In this context, a range of other actions need to accompany elections.

Peaceful elections are significant events in any transition to recovery and long-term stability. But they are only one element in this process. Elections should not, by default, lead to the withdrawal of the peacekeeping mission.

Efforts to enhance governance should address mistrust between the government and marginalized groups. It should seek to help repair what is often a broken relationship.

Depending on its mandate, the mission can play a role in helping organize elections. This can include providing logistical resources for the transportation and storage of electoral material. But this presents a dilemma. If there is little time to prepare for elections, the mission may face pressure to take a lead role. For instance, it may receive requests to distribute election materials. This presents capacity building and cost-effectiveness challenges.

Within the mission, an electoral component often leads support for elections. It should work with and coordinate the activities of all other relevant components: military; police; Political Affairs, Civil Affairs, Human Rights, and Strategic Communications sections; as well as relevant UN agencies. Due to political sensitivities the HoM should be actively engaged throughout the process.

The MLT should track stakeholder compliance with electoral aspects of political agreements. Failure to abide by these agreements can undermine the conduct of elections. In many ways this is a political effort.

The mission should also develop a security plan that fits into the electoral plan to support a secure and stable environment during the elections period. This will involve the mission’s military and police assets. Pre- and post-election periods may also see a spike in activity for the mission, as tensions may rise.

It is up to the mission to ensure international community support for its efforts. This support could be political, financial or logistical. The mission should play a leading role in coordinating donor support for elections. If this is not already the case, it should seek to have this included in its Security Council mandate.

The mission should maintain close contact with DPPA’s Electoral Assistance Division. It provides support to the focal point for electoral-assistance activities. Currently, this focal point is the USG for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. They ensure UN system-wide coherence and consistency in electoral support.